


Stars

by afterwit



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-19
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-09 06:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1142896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afterwit/pseuds/afterwit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos and Cecil have a date night and go stargazing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars

It was dark by the time Cecil arrived at the lab, save for the lights in the back of the main room on, and he tapped on the front window to let Carlos know he was there. Three taps, then two more, was the norm.

Carlos, of course, was working on science things in the back. Cecil really didn’t know what sorts of arcane things he got up to in there, but Carlos seemed very interested in them. And if Carlos was interested, then Cecil was, as well.

Carlos peeled off his gloves and stepped back from the microscope, opened the door, and smiled. “Done for the night?”

Cecil nodded. “I was a little late tonight, there was a mix-up with the broadcast after mine…the flies weren’t quite ready to be on air. It happens to us all!”

Carlos quirked a brow, and nodded slightly. “Ah, okay. Well, I was thinking…”

“Yes?”

“…I need to study something tonight, and I thought maybe you could help me.” Carlos smiled, looking away for a moment. He’d had boyfriends before tell him he was too-wrapped up in his studies, in his work, and nothing had ever lasted too long. It wasn’t that he was more absorbed in his work when he did these things…he just wanted the other to see things like he did, to share what he loved with someone.

It was, maybe, not the best tactic.

“What are we studying?” Cecil looked a bit hopeful. Good so far, Carlos thought.

“I needed to make a star map.”

————————————————————————————————————

And that was how, nearly a half hour later, they veered off the dirt road (which was fairly busy this time of night, Carlos thought). Carlos couldn’t quite remember the subtleties of the conversation- something about the City Council banning something or the other, and tangents about interns and subjects from the break room coffee to the machine that made their ID cards (“really? You have to provide a hair sample for that?” “Well of course, how else will they know it’s you and not an imposter?”).

The hybrid coupe rolled to a stop, dirt and rocks crunching under the tires. “This should be good. We’re a ways out from the city now.” Carlos smiled, turning off the engine and hopping out. There was a blanket in the trunk, and a telescope, and he grabbed the scope. “Here, you take this. Careful with it, my grandmother made it.”

Cecil nodded and held the folded-up quilt close, as if he had been given something precious. “Why all the way out here? Why not on the roof of your lab? Not that I mind, I liked the drive…”

“Light pollution.”

Cecil blinked a couple of times. He’d heard of pollution- air pollution, water pollution, blood pollution, bone marrow pollution- but never light pollution before. “Uh-huh. I see.”

Carlos chuckled. “The lights from the streetlamps and signs in the city overwhelm the stars…you can’t see them as well.”

And it was true, Cecil thought, Night Vale was radiant.

“But out here, you can see a little better.”

Cecil looked up. Wait, did that mean they were…

…they were going stargazing. He smiled, shaking out the quilt as Carlos set up the tripod and telescope. He smoothed out the corners, grinning to himself.

Carlos, cursing just once under his breath, managed to get the damn thing set up, and settled down next to Cecil on the quilt. “I’ve noticed that stars here in Night Vale are different than the ones I’m used to. I’m trying to document them.” He lay back, folding his left arm behind his head, his lab coat sleeve slipping back as he pointed up. “Like those stars up there.”

Cecil pursed his lips, laying back and looking up. “Oh, those? That’s a constellation.” Really, Carlos, didn’t you know that? But he didn’t say it.

“I’ve never seen it before, what is it?”

“That’s the goldfish.”

Carlos looked over, smiling and shaking his head slightly. “Alright, then what’s that one?”

“Corn silk doll.” Was he going to quiz him? Carlos was in for a surprise- he paid attention in eighth grade Void Studies. Cecil smiled.

“Okay, then right above the moon.”

“We call that one Jeff.”

“Jeff?”

“Mhmm.” Cecil rolled onto his side. Much as the void above filled with stars was beautiful, he’d rather look at other things. “What else?”

“Well, I’ve never seen them before, what’s that one?” Carlos gestured.

“Beautiful.”

“Beauti-“ Carlos furrowed his brows for a moment and looked over, and…oh. He smiled, rolling onto his side. He’d need to remember to get pictures, but for now…he rested a hand over Cecil’s on the quilt. Funny, there was something he couldn’t quite quantify there- surely, he knew about neurotransmitters and other chemicals, but Cecil seemed to draw him in with a gravity that didn’t suit his mass. Something that made him smile and feel almost afraid. That radiated through whatever he would consider to be his soul.

He inched closer, until their hands pressed against him, and kissed him.

Cecil’s hand under his seemed to relax, and Carlos could feel the warmth of his fingers pressed against his chest.

Maybe someday he would explain that all of the atoms in Cecil’s body came from a star at some point, and that he was more interesting and curious and beautiful than any heavenly body.

Maybe not, but it was a nice thought.


End file.
